Dumpling Recipe

This dumpling recipe makes Chinese style dumplings (also called a jiaozi).
Dumplings are quite varied and are found in many types of cuisines around the world.
If you're interested in reading about all of them in more detail, here is the dumpling article on Wikipedia.
I found it really quite interesting!

Here is a picture of the kind of dumpling dough we used. The dough is already pre-rolled into round pieces so this is a real time saver. You can easily find these in any Chinese grocery store.

Many types of meats (shrimp, beef, chicken) could be used in dumplings but ground pork is very popular in this Chinese style dumpling. If you want to make the sauce, you'll need some vinegar (but preferably red vinegar).

Preparation stage 30 min before starting the dumpling recipe: (1) soak the dried black mushrooms in a small bowl of water; (2) leave the dumpling package at room temperature; (3) leave the frozen ground pork in a large bowl at room temperature to unthaw.

Part 1 (30 min)
Soak the dried black mushrooms in some water. Dice the green onion, water chestnut and dry mushrooms. Make sure you have the green onion, water chestnut, dry mushroom, salt, sugar, pepper, soy sauce, and ground pork (1) and mix everything together in a large bowl. This is the filling for the dumplings. Place a small portion (about 1 teaspoon) of the filling into the middle of each wrapper (2). Wet your finger in a bowl of water (3) and spread the water along the edges of the dumpling (4). Fold the wrapper over the filling into a half moon shape and pinch the edges to seal (5). Continue with the remainder of the dumplings (6).

Part 2 (30 min)
Fill a large pot with 3/4 full of water and bring it to a boil. Put the dumplings into the pot (1) and let it cook for about 5 min until they start to float (2). Transfer the dumplings in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process (3). Drain the water in a strainer (4). Pour a small amount of oil in the frying pan (5) and turn on medium heat. Fry them until slightly golden on both sides (6).